


Gravity

by Florchis



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Background Inosaku, Being civil with your exes is my kink, First Kiss, Friends to Lovers, Gen, Getting Together, Long Live Feedback Comment Project, Love Confessions, M/M, Male-Female Friendship, Past romantic Shikatema
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-07
Updated: 2019-12-17
Packaged: 2020-04-12 01:41:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,284
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19122019
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Florchis/pseuds/Florchis
Summary: Now that he has grown close to Naruto, Shikamaru can’t deny that he is constantly being attracted towards him like an asteroid to a bigger celestial body, unable- unwilling- to escape the orbit of his gravity. Bound only to fall.Or: Shikamaru's three-parts journey from denial to Naruto's arms





	1. Ino

**Author's Note:**

  * For [whistlingwindtree](https://archiveofourown.org/users/whistlingwindtree/gifts).



> Rated T because these kids have potty mouths. Background Ino x Sakura and Temari x Tenten (gotta make everyone gay during Pride), as well as plenty of references to past romantic Shikamaru x Temari.

“I take this means you haven’t grown a pair yet, Nara.”

Ino- being Ino- bumps her shoulder against his to get inside the apartment the second he opens the door- he buckles first, of course- and goes straight for the couch. Shikamaru glares at her, but it is fruitless; she is already sprawled on the cushion, biting off the nail polish of her thumb.

“Good evening to you too, Ino,” he scowls at her, but it has no heat because he is glad she is here.

“I think you and I are beyond pleasantries.” 

She is not wrong. In fact, Shikamaru hates pleasantries and only uses them to stall. Ino is well aware of that, so he drops the act and falls on the couch by her side. Her feet- already free from the impossible high-heels she wears like an extension of her ankles- wiggle their toes at him, and Shikamaru rolls his eyes but starts stroking their soles nonetheless. Ino hums warmly at the attention.

“You didn’t go either.”

“One, I came here because someone needed to check on your sorry ass. Two, the party don’t start till I walk in and all that jazz.”

“Thought you and Sakura were done playing hard to get with each other.”

“Darling, Sakura and I wouldn’t be Sakura and I if we stopped playing hard to get with each other.”

Shikamaru smiles. She can word it whichever way she prefers, but it is heartwarming the way Ino’s relationship with Sakura has evolved over the years. It is not that he wants something like that for himself- _ dating is such a drag _ -, but it is good. For Ino, it is good.

“And you came to kill time here? I am not giving you my good booze, so don’t even try.”

“What, can’t I be here because I love you, asshole?” They exchange a charged glance, and when it breaks, they both snicker. What she said is not untrue, but it is not them, either. “I came to make sure that you wear something decent tonight.”

“I am not going, Ino.”

“Yes, you are.”

“No, I am not.”

In a petty display, he stops massaging her feet, and she sinks her heel on his stomach in retaliation. They are so fucking immature, still, always.

“Don’t be fucking thick, Nara. When a gorgeous blonde asks you  _ personally  _ to go to his flat warming party, you  _ can’t  _ not go. Haven’t I taught you anything?”

“Ino.” He tries to breathe authority into his tone, but that doesn’t work with Ino. Fucking nothing works with Ino, dammit. “It is not a big deal. It is just Naruto.”

“ _ It is just Naruto,” _ she mocks him in a baby voice, and he resists the impulse to pull her hair. “You say it like you haven’t been making heart eyes his way for  _ months.” _

“Have not!”

“Have too!”

This time he does pull her hair, and she counterattacks using her legs to put him under a chokehold, until he taps the back of the couch three times, asking to be released. Fucking Ino and her fucking strong calves. She lets him go, a smug smile on her lips, and Shikamaru glares at her. The glare loses a bit of his power because he is also panting, and because Ino stands up and starts rummaging through his closet, paying him no heed. 

“You know I am not looking for a relationship.”

Ino shrugs. 

“Yeah, but that doesn't mean that you can't have fun. It has been over a year since That Bitch dumped you, Shikamaru. You gotta get over it.”

“Don’t call Temari a bitch.”

Ino rolls her eyes.

“Personally, I think Temari  _ rocks, _ but as your best friend, I can only refer to her as That Bitch, capital T, capital B. Sorry, I don’t make the rules.”

Shikamaru catches the dark green shirt she throws in his direction and pouts. 

“Who told you that you are my best friend?”

Ino takes off their hangers two pair of pants, one dark grey, and one light grey. She considers them both, and finally drapes the light one over her shoulders, leaving the other one on a shelf, unfolded. Shikamaru grumbles and stands up to correctly hang it up. He normally wouldn’t care about such a thing, but those were Temari’s favorite pants. He is not still holding out hope for that relationship, but he can’t help remembering it with fondness.

“You are not even funny, Shikamaru.” 

He drops the subject. He has bigger fish to fry. 

“I don’t look at Naruto with heart eyes.”

“Ple-ease.” Ino stretches the first syllable from between her lips all the way to her cheeks. Shikamaru feels like throwing the teapot at her face. “You are fooling no one, except maybe yourself.”

He starts putting on the green shirt- he is well aware he already lost that battle- in front of the mirror, and silence falls upon them. Ino is tapping furiously at her phone- Sakura, no doubt- and Shikamaru gives himself a second to breathe.

He has not been tearing his hair out since Temari run off with Tenten,  that is not his style at all, but he can not deny that life has been kind of… dull. School, work, sleep. Rinse and repeat. He has always had a tendency to drag his feet year after year, to left himself drift under the vapidity of life without fighting it, no matter how much Ino judges him and Chōji pushes him gently in the right direction. It might as well be his worst flaw: oh, Shikamaru, you could have so much, and you settle for so little.

But then he let Ino-through-Sakura drag him into tutoring Naruto, tempting him with easy favors from her without having to leave his apartment and free food. He knew he was being baited, but he bit the bait anyway. Joke was on them, he would get the food, the perks, and he wouldn’t even care if Naruto’s grades improved or not.

Except the joke is on him, because how can anyone spend more than two hours with Naruto and do not care about him? Shikamaru knows that it has happened a lot during Naruto’s life, but it goes beyond his quite extensive comprehension. When they were two simple acquaintances, linked by the loose bond of “your best friend is friends with my best friend”, he wasn’t affected by his smile, his kindness, his enthusiasm. But now that they have grown close, Shikamaru can’t deny that he is constantly being attracted towards him like an asteroid to a bigger celestial body, unable-  _ unwilling- _ to escape the orbit of his gravity.  

Bound only to fall.

He had noticed that, their bond growing stronger. But only now that Ino put it so bluntly he is realizing that such a force of gravity includes, well,  _ attraction. _ Honest-to-god, toe-curling, belly-butterflies attraction, with a healthy side of would-gladly-spend-an-afternoon-stroking-your-hair affection.

He would happily let himself be hauled as close as that gravity would allow him to get, and fuck.  _ Fuck.  _

The realization hits him like a punch on the gut and he can’t finish buttoning his shirt, his fingers are trembling that much. He turns around, bewildered.   

“Ino.” He doesn’t say anything else, but his voice is shaking, and Ino gets up and holds his hands in between hers.

“Oh, honey. You  _ really  _ didn’t know.” She shakes her head in disbelief, and Shikamaru feels like he might have a panic attack. “Sit with me. I’ll do your hair and we can talk.” 


	2. Temari

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry we are still stuck on the set-up! Hope you are still hanging in there!

They get to the party later than what it is fashionable, and they sit in Ino’s car even longer after that.

Ino lights up a cigarette, takes a drag and offers it to him. He takes it though he doesn’t like it when she smokes- no, he is not willing to analyze why he feels that way- and therefore tries to not smoke in front of her. But dammit, he needs it now.

“Nobody said you  _ have  _ to do something about it,” she says around a puff of smoke, conversationally and soft.

Shikamaru huffs.  

“Yamanaka Ino, I can’t believe  _ you  _ are telling me to  _ wait  _ and be  _ reasonable  _ and  _ patient.” _

“Like  _ telling  _ you to do something has ever done me any good.” She snatches the cigarette out of his hand. “But no, I won’t be caught dead with those words on my lips, either. I am just saying…” The silence stretches, and his skin crawls: he is not used to Ino not finding the right words, and he doesn’t like what that foretells for him. “Just be you, okay? The rest will solve itself if you do that.”

He doesn’t look at her- she has seen enough of him terrified shitless for one day- but instead searches for her hand on the steering wheel and squeezes it.

“Nothing else has ever worked for me.”

“Good.”

* * *

Of fucking course, they have barely gotten inside that Ino has already deserted him to disappear behind a curtain in a whirlwind of pink hair and green eyes. Of fucking course, while he is busy judging Ino, he runs headfirst into Temari. 

Such a Naruto thing, to not even  _ think  _ that it might be fucking awkward to invite both of them to the same party. How much Shikamaru likes that about him! He knows it is not insensitivity what makes Naruto not think about it, but a good heart and a grace for forgiveness, both things that characterize him.  

It is weirder that  _ Sakura  _ didn’t think about it, though,  but Ino might have run interference with the idea. It is okay: they are old enough for such childish expectations, and also their group of friends is too fucking incestuous to pretend that you could go around social life without bumping into exes, exes’ new sweethearts and exes’ exes.

Besides, even after everything, seeing her makes him glad, because a part of him will always love her a little bit. 

She looks radiant, and honestly, love has always suited her.  She thrusts his favorite beer against his chest and he looks down at it and frowns. 

“I saw Ino’s car.” She offers as all explanation. “Procrastinating, as usual?” 

The comment could be meant to be biting, to be hurtful, but as a part of the bigger picture that is the eight years of water under the bridge between them, well. It is actually more like a loving jab.

He pays her back with the same coin, ignoring the question and pointing at her clothes.  

“That jacket is mine.”

“It is.” She has the audacity to even do a twirl, showing it off; a corner of his mouth ticks up in an involuntary smile. “If it took you fourteen months to notice it was gone, you don’t deserve it.”

He shrugs; she is not wrong, and his mind is still focused on his earlier epiphany. It is nice to see her, but he wasn’t emotionally prepared for it, and there is only so much his poor heart can take in one night. He takes a sip of the beer, and gives her a general nod of gratitude; the alcohol helps a little. She waits till he is done drinking, and takes his hand.

“Come.” 

It is not a request: it is a command. Classic Temari, overdoing things by ordering him something  _ and _ also dragging him herself.  

It is cold on the balcony where she takes him but the night is clean, and Shikamaru leans his back on the handrail to watch the stars more comfortably. It is also an excuse to pull his hand away from hers. He is cool with seeing her, but he is not as cool as he likes to pretend. He doesn’t need her warm skin against his. 

Temari looks down on the street right by his side and elbows him softly on the ribs. 

“So you finally realized it.”

“Realized what?” he replies, almost a knee-jerk reaction.   

Temari rolls her eyes, and Shikamaru fights the instinct to rolls his own in return. 

“Don’t be obtuse.” She plays with the pendant on her neck, that was a gift from their time together, and Shikamaru wonders if they could ever cut clean from each other. If they should. If he wants to. “I am glad that you have found someone too.”

He considers feigning ignorance, but Shikamaru Nara does not use energy carelessly, and especially not in lost causes. 

“How-how did you know?” 

“You are kind of obvious about your feelings. Especially for me, since I know you, and more now that  _ you  _ know. Also, you are trembling.”

He shrugs, “It is cold here.”

She doesn’t even dignify that excuse with a look in his direction. 

“And yet, you are trembling because you are nervous.”

Shikamaru makes a dismissive gesture, and only then Temari looks at him. 

“It is just a silly crush. Pointless. You know I think dating is a drag.”

He is poking the bear, and he is doing it on purpose. Maybe if he enrages Temari enough, she will let him alone to wallow in his misery, and not bother him with both reminiscences of the past and boosts into the future. 

But Temari doesn’t fall for the trap, and her voice is leveled even while she does a grimace. 

“Don’t be a crybaby, Nara. You might be lazy, but you are not a coward.” That gives him pause, and Temari uses his stillness to quickly swap her full beer for his almost empty one. “Take that liquid courage if you must, but I am not letting you leave until you do something about that ‘silly crush’. You might as well seize the opportunity.”

“Hey, Shikamaru! Sakura told me you were looking for me?”

Shikamaru’s soul falls to the floor at the sound of Naruto’s voice. His heart rate goes out of control almost immediately, and how stupid this whole crush business is. He almost drops his beer to the floor, but Temari’s face-splitting smile makes him steady his hold; he will get out of this conundrum in one piece even if it is only out of spite. 

“I hate you,” he mouths to Temari.

She has the nerve to give him a kiss on the cheek when she passes by his side.

“So bad we both love you.”  

He doesn’t need to ask who is the other person Temari is referring to. He understands now that Ino’s escapade with Sakura was a cover; because Temari being in cahoots with Ino to ruin his life? More likely than you think. 


	3. Naruto

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry it took me so long to finish this- hope you all enjoy the last part!

He feels like a fool after the girls leave. He has no reason to have summoned Naruto and he can’t even come up with a convincing lie, he is still that shocked. 

Naruto- bless his heart- sorts the problem for him, because instead of insisting on his question, he makes a beeline for Shikamaru and hugs him.  Being hugged by Naruto, he finds out, is a momentous thing. No, it’s not ‘hugging Naruto’- the way Naruto hugs him doesn’t leave place for any action of his side. It is not something  reciprocal: Shikamaru can only be on the receiving end of such an experience, because nothing he can do could compare to what Naruto does. Shikamaru doesn’t know if it’s the novelty of the first time or the hyperawareness of his realization, but the hug is all-encompassing: he can feel everything, from the smell of Naruto’s deodorant to the width of his hands on his back to the sound of his breathing.

“I’m glad you came, Shikamaru.”  

Naruto is smiling and Shikamaru would like to return the gesture, but he can’t get his own mouth to behave. The revelation is an open wound, tender and bleeding, and the warmth of its power fills every inch of the space between them. Shikamaru wasn’t planning on doing anything about his feelings, not now anyway, and yet his mouth refuses to do anything but articulate  _ i’m in love with you _ .

He finally manages a weak, feeble, “Yeah. Congrats.” He feels grateful for that much. “I don’t wanna hoard you, though. I imagine all your guests would fight me over the pleasure of your presence.” 

It’s amazing how _ knowing  _ changes everything: just yesterday, he wouldn’t have second guessed anything of what he just said. But now there is no amount of teasing inflection in his voice or casual leaning on the rail that can hide the big, naked truth.  _ Stay, stay, stay.  _

Naruto raises an arm on the air, hand on his back, and Shikamaru’s mouth goes dry at the sight of his flexing muscles.  _ When did you become so weak. _

“My party, my rules. I’m only missing a drink.”

“You can have mine.” Shikamaru cringes at his own words; there is being desperate and then there is  _ this, _ for fuck’s sake. Naruto, instead, beams at the suggestion.

“We can share and then have another!” 

He nods. Naruto’s fingers are warm against the cold tin and Shikamaru hides his arm behind his back after the beer has changed hands; he couldn’t explain why it feels on fire. He lowers his eyes while Naruto drinks, and it’s an actual exercise in willpower to not focus his eyes on the moving column of Naruto’s throat. Who would have known, that he possesses something resembling  _ willpower. _

The sound of metal on metal makes him raise his head: Naruto has moved to lean on the rail by his side and is pushing the beer back towards him. Shikamaru strokes the edge with a finger, but doesn’t take it; he feels unhinged enough as it is, he can’t afford to be drunk on top of that.     

“You know.” Naruto is looking down at the street while he speaks, and it allows Shikamaru to peruse his profile; it’s a precarious equilibrium he needs to keep: he can’t lose track of what Naruto is telling him and out himself as the creep he is being. “I don’t think I thanked you for helping me with school.”

“Ah. Well.” He scrapes the bottom of his lungs for an appropriate response, and doesn’t find any. Naruto is now looking at him and there is pure affection and kindness irradiating from his eyes. Shikamaru basks on that look. It makes every little thing he did during the last two semesters worth it, makes him want to be better, to keep on being worthy of those sentiments, and how can he not be drawn to someone that makes him want such things for himself? “You don’t have to. I enjoyed it, so.”

“Cool.”

The silence that falls between them is sticky and makes the night feel chillier. Or maybe it’s just that he has to fight all his instincts to not lean closer to Naruto’s warmth, to not let himself fall into the pull that- now that he is aware of it- feels inexorable. 

He trembles. Whatever the reason, Shikamaru trembles, and Naruto looks at him with curious eyes.

“Here.” He offers his jacket, and Shikamaru could die. 

No, really. If on top of everything he is surrounded by Naruto’s  _ smell  _ while wearing his  _ clothes, _ he might as well die, how could he ever cope with  _ that? _

“Naruto, I’m fine.”

“Come on, take it.” He places the offending item on top of Shikamaru’s shoulders on his own, and Shikamaru forces his brain to a halt, because if he has to think about the press of Naruto’s hands against his forearms and the way the jacket is too big for him because Naruto is broader and taller than him, he will  _ die. _ Literally. “Sakura told me to use it only for the aesthetic  anyway, whatever that means.”

“It means that it looks good on you.” Ah, yes. The benefits of turning off your brain: you say stupider shit than the stupid shit you usually say.  

A soft pink tints Naruto’s cheeks, and Shikamaru feels emboldened by the reaction that is not disgust nor rejection. 

“It looks better on you.”

The compliment is even warmer than the coat-especially since he  _ knows _ that is a lie, because he could never look better than Naruto, for crying out loud- and Shikamaru takes a tiny step closer to him. Now, up close, with focused eyes and an even more focused heart, he can see that Naruto’s blush is two apples high on his cheeks, that his breathing is elaborate and that the gleam in his eyes could be explained by alcohol, yes, but also by agitation.

But Temari is wrong- wouldn’t he be so happy to inform her of that fact: he  _ is  _ a coward on top of being a crybaby, and instead of seizing his opportunity, he takes the beer can that lays abandoned on the edge of the handrail. The beer is lukewarm, and it leaves a bitter aftertaste on his tongue, thought he has no right to it; he should be used to disappointing himself by now. The alcohol burns down his throat, and it helps in getting himself distracted while Naruto reclaims the tin and takes another sip. 

He didn’t drink enough to keep his cool when Naruto licks his lips, though, and he can’t help following the tiny hint of pink tongue with hungry eyes. His ears are ringing, and he can see that Naruto’s mouth is moving, but for the life of him he couldn’t hear what Naruto is saying. And then Naruto- sweet, brave,  _ proactive  _ Naruto-takes a hand to Shikamaru’s face and brushes the pad of his thumb against his upper lip. His words come to Shikamaru’s ears from under water, “I am not sure how I feel about this beer. Does it taste good to you?”

It’s a smooth move, which is a bit unlike Naruto, but Shikamaru is too busy  _ dying  _ to truly appreciate the boldness of it. He can’t even give him a smart reply, he just stands there being pulled down down down. He can’t breathe: the skin of his cheeks is tense when he fights against it to open his mouth.

“Yes,” he croaks, and that is the great contribution he can offer to this moment. He is lucky Naruto looks as stricken as he feels, space closing off between them, a time-warp that grounds Shikamaru to this moment and only this.

“Mind if I try it?”

Naruto is politely waiting for an answer, and Shikamaru will later find out that Ino and Sakura coached him into different possible approaches to this conversation, and he will be too grateful to snide at them. But right now it feels surreal, and when you stop feeling the chilling wind at your cheeks and you are not sure if you are inside a dream, you nod yes.

He closes his eyes before the kiss comes; if this is a dream, he’d rather stay in it for as long as possible.

Naruto smells like his beer and like aftershave, a minty and bitter combination that wouldn’t be attractive in anyone else but him. Shikamaru melts inside the hands that are holding his cheeks; he counts on Naruto holding him, because he only knows how to fall.

When their lips touch, it’s a collision of planets. The blast wave wakes up Shikamaru’s brain out of its lethargic state: there is nothing more important than this, a moment eleven months in the making, with the blessing of all the important women in his life, and he can’t afford to ruin it. He is clumsy while he tries to catch up with the rhythm of the kiss, but he makes up for it with sheer enthusiasm. He has kissed people here and there since Temari, but nothing has feel as real and as worthwhile as this: Naruto brushes his tongue against his teeth and Shikamaru gasps with his hands clasped tightly on Naruto’s shirt, and the rushing feeling in his head is great, but the sensation of home is even greater.

He pulls apart. Kissing is good, but he needs to place this moment in reality, be sure that when he opens his eyes Naruto’s infamous smile will be waiting for him. He finds, instead, that Naruto is looking at him with a tenderness that chokes the breath out of his lungs, his lips kiss-swollen. When Shikamaru brushes his thumb against them, Naruto catches his hand to keep the finger against his mouth and kisses the tip; the hint of tongue makes all the blood on Shikamaru’s body rush south, leaving him giddy and panting. 

“Did you like it better like that?” he asks, and it’s like it’s not his mouth at all: his brain doesn’t feel capable of coming up with that question, and yet it comes in his voice alright. 

Naruto grins at him like a fool, then, and Shikamaru can’t help but mirror it. So this is what it feels like to be in love with someone. He had almost forgotten.    

Naruto passes an arm over his shoulders and around his neck, his warm hand resting on the side of Shikamaru’s jaw, and flashes him a smile that tries to be suave and ends up being goofy and eager. Shikamaru loves it.

“Not sure. Should try again, don’t you think?” He makes a pause, clearly debates with himself the need to give Shikamaru an out. “If that’s not too much of a drag.”

The wind is blowing in his ears, and now that the night has settled it’s starting to be really cold out here, yet Shikamaru has never been warmer than now, Naruto’s jacket on his back, Naruto’s hand on his neck, the promise of Naruto’s lips on his.

Shikamaru heaves a fake sigh, his hands slipping under Naruto’s shirt to nuzzle the soft skin of his belly, “For you, I’ll bear it.”

**Author's Note:**

> Currently accepting Pride prompts!
> 
> **
> 
> This story is part of LLF Comment Project, whose goal is to improve communication between readers and authors. This author invites:
> 
>   * Short comments
>   * Long comments
>   * Questions
>   * “<3” as extra kudos
>   * Prompts
>   * Image reactions
>   * Reader-reader interaction
> This author replies to comments (but it might take a while). If you'd rather not get a reply, please add *whispers* to your comment.



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